tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2585163331194032530.post9169395124757843875..comments2015-03-03T18:38:54.630-05:00Comments on We Love Soaps: 50 Greatest Soap Actors: #13 Bernard BarrowKevin Mulcahy Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13659344675956886092noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2585163331194032530.post-18449671381401668472010-04-30T01:58:01.825-04:002010-04-30T01:58:01.825-04:00One major problem I have with soaps today is that ...One major problem I have with soaps today is that so few characters have a real specific identity. Soap opera characters are almost universally bland. Things that play a role in real people&#39;s lives, such as ethnicity and occupation, are missing from the on-screen lives of soap characters. Johnny Ryan knew who he was, where he came from, and what he was doing with his life. And Barrow played him to perfection. Today, when people talk about the character, they tend to romanticize him. But while Johnny Ryan was certainly a good character, he was far from perfect. His overall stubbornness and intransigence on certain matters sometimes caused great distress for his family. These characteristics fit as part of his personality - his stubbornness and intransigence sometimes played a very positive role. The character was so well-defined in so many ways that it was easy for storylines to evolve from his character. The audience never had to watch his character be sacrificed for the sake of a plot.<br /><br />Barrow probably was underrated on Ryan&#39;s Hope because Helen Gallagher&#39;s Maeve was such a force of nature. It was Maeve who RH viewers wanted as part of their families, not Johnny. But Johnny was every bit as important as Maeve in that marriage and on the show.Greg Spirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667655645005745670noreply@blogger.com